Happy Halloween Y'all

Happy Halloween from our family to yours!  Our little ones were so excited about today, it has been building for days.  If anyone asked the favorite question "What will you be for Halloween?" cheerful shouts of Rapunzel and Superman would follow.  And why all the excitement?  A year ago, it was for dressing up.  This year there are only one big reason: THE CANDY!

Before I allowed them to knock down doors, we took a few pictures of my beautiful sweet princess and my handsome and strong superhero:

The below one Superman was showing some muscles hehe.  Do you see our awesome pumpkins?  Our daddy did an awesome job again this year.  We have Buzz Lightyear, Polka Dots and Jessie.  They were so cute, especially when they were all lit up at night... those are pictured below.

Here is a video of them talking to me about who they are and KK telling us about what happens tonight:

 Of course, we did our McGuyver move with a box to get a quick family shot:

I have to show off my babies just a little bit more - they were so stinking cute tonight.  My princess with her two foot long wig.  I was so surprised, she wore it all night long without any problems.  We braided it and our cousin gave us a crown to make her look just like our favorite character.

Below, Superman showing me those muscles of his:

You need a shot of the cape from behind.  It was cute, AJ would run with is fist clenched and up in front of him, in true superhero style!

 

Daddy's pumpkins - he was so proud (us too)

Each year, before going off to trick or treat, we gather with my bible study ladies and their families, as well as other neighbors to have dinner and to swap treats. Here are a few pictures we got with our friends:

So after we hugged our friends, got our treats, handed out the treat bags that KK and Mommy made for everyone - it was time to head off.  This is when we ran into a bit of a funny story.  Just AJ's luck, the first house he walks up to by himself with his Sissy, and who answers but Wolf Man.  Both kids jump back a little bit... and then AJ decides he has seen enough and before he can get candy he runs away screaming "He scared".  I have the video of it, so fun:

Well Wolf Man went trick o' treating right after we left, and he just so happened to come up to the same houses that AJ was at. AJ began demanding that Mommy or Daddy "holda me" at all the houses and would keep looking around asking if "dat mean Wolf chasin me". It was so cute. Lucky for us, Wolf Man went a different way and we didn't see him again.

Here is the last shot - the bags of candy that we so don't need.  My princess and superhero are sleeping soundly in their beds, and I hope to be doing the same soon.  More blogs coming soon about TCU Football, Fall Crafts we have been doing, KK's soccer games... I am behind but we will catch up soon.  Sweet dreams everyone!  Brush your teeth tonight!

First day of Fall Y'all!

We were so excited last night as we watched the dark clouds roll in and heard the sound of raindrops hitting the roof... it was, what?  six months since our last real rain?  Wow, it was great.  Even better: a beautiful dark and rainy morning to sleep in and snuggle with one another.  No soccer practice, no birthday parties, no TCU football tailgating or game.  Not that we don't love all that, but we needed a day off.  A day to ourselves to slow down and just have some time at home.  After snuggles, the kids and I decided to embrace the fall day and make pumpkin pie muffins (thanks pinterest, I am addicted)!

Here is a shot of my babies ready to help and help they did!

The result of our hard work: fun little acorn shaped pumpkin muffins!

And they were tasty.  Before AJ even tasted it, he told us that they were Yummy!

Now we couldn't just eat all these ourselves - such cute muffins were made to be shared with neighbors!  So we put them in bags, tied on a cute bow to make it festive, and then we went on a walk (the rain stopped for us) to enjoy the cool weather and say hello to some of our favorite people.

AJ was super excited, as you can see, to bring his muffins.  Also, note the shirt.  Little man has a new obsession in clothes: Superman.  He won't take it off, its day 3 and I am going to have to wash it during bath time tonight so its ready to sleep in :-)

We didn't just bake today... KK and I had a little adventure to Michael's and we found some cute things for the house to go along with the "fall" theme we were feeling all day long.  Our favorite find for 50% off:

Admit it - its cute!  I do say this out loud in a high pitched/ruby red shoes/flying monkey kind of way.  You just gotta.  KK also picked out a new scarecrow for the house (a girl one):

The pumpkins there will be carved soon - once the rain stops and Daddy is ready for some fun... more on that later.  I ended the day with yet another pinterest recipe:  Honeycrisp Apple Sangria.  Can I say yummy?  Its a white sangria, but it was still very tasty with a cinnamon sugar ring and some apples and oranges to garnish.  Look at us actually doing more than pinning on pinterest!  I feel like I accomplished so much (I know I didn't, but let me dream for the night).  And what is better than a glass of sangria I made?

Another one to share with my hubby as we settle down for the night and relax with the door open, enjoying the nice cool evening... we love fall!!!

Sweet dreams Y'all! 

Alabama Vacay: Last Day

So this is it, our last post of our vacation as it is our last day here in Gulf Shores.  The week seemed to fly by, we had so much fun.  Our last day was spent on the beach, we knew that the kids were getting a little burned out on beach time, but we also knew that we were going to miss this place after we left.  We decided to have breakfast on the beach.  It was a little chilly first thing, so we bundled up and decided to stick to the sand until the sun warmed us up.

Breakfast at our Beach Camp

AJ would only get in the water if we held him

Me and my babies playing in the sand

Whoa! Daddy and AJ got a little creative and made a town of sandcastles around our campsite.  KK decorated each tower with seashells (hard to see but they are there)

Why is this picture so amazing?  The kids are touching the water and smiling at me!  As mentioned, the kids were still a little leery of the ocean and all its inhabitants, so getting them out into the water wasn't easy.  They loved the ocean and loved having the waves come up on shore, just as long as they weren't touching said water. 

What AJ usually looked like if we dropped him down onto the sandbars to play

The water was so clear for miles - hard to tell in our picture, but we were several yards into the ocean together here.

KK and Daddy searching for crabs and sea shells

We loved the sandbars that weren't covered with water on top

Finally warming up to the waters on our last day (figures hehe)

We decided it was time to dig a hole to China... only thing is, it is hard to dig a hold when everyone wants to sit in it...

Hmmm... still a kid at heart

Making our mark on the sand before the tide washes away our footprints and names

We found more little crabs walking around in the ocean.  The water was so clear on our last day and the jellies were all gone - we couldn't have asked for a better way to end the trip.

Baby sting ray

KK playing in the water as the sun set on our last full day here

One last sunset walk

Whoa Daddy and KK found the BIGGEST SHELL EVER!  We are keeping it - amazing!

So here we are - our first ever family vacation together.  We.loved.every.minute.  It was fun, adventurous, relaxing... we can't wait to come back and do it all again together.  We had so much fun just spending time together as a family, showing the kids the ocean for the first time.  I can't seem to put it into words except to say the entire trip exceeded our expectations.  When I think back to our time there I remember only joy and laughs, and isn't that the whole point?  Goodbye Gulf Shores!  Until next time...

Alabama Vacay: Beach Walk (the best day)

This is the hardest part of our trip to put into words - the pictures barely do it justice.  We decided to take a long, long walk up the beach before sunset today.  We wanted to walk as far as we could with the kids, heading east along the beach where the nature preserve was.  No hotels, no houses, just nature everywhere you turn.  It was the best walk, the highlight of our entire trip if I was forced to pick just one thing to recommend.  We set out from our hotel and had an adventure together:

The sand dunes as we hit the beach - Greg took an amazing picture but its easy when its just so perfectly beautiful here.

Our little beach walkers were off to a running start

Before we started our walk, we did stop to play by our umbrella and splash in the water.  Rather, daddy splashed.  He started a little game called Daddy vs. the Jellyfish.  He found a net at the beach house and would take it out to catch jellies and dump them on the shore.  He thought he was clearing the water for the kids, I hated to point out there were still hundreds floating around.  He was entertained and the kids were too.

Our mighty Jellyfish hunter

Our beach walk started with crabs - the water is so clear that you can see everything and tonight we found little crabs walking around.  This little guy got close before scampering off.  Daddy caught some in his net but released them after the kids got a close look.

This is a BABY SHARK!  One of our vacation friends who's umbrella sat next to us on the beach loved to fish in the ocean.  Before we left for our long walk, he called over to us to show us what ate his bait: a BABY SHARK!  It was a fierce little guy, he didn't stand for being caught and fought the whole time but I managed a quick picture before he was released back into his ocean.  How neat is that?  AJ thought it was the coolest.

After sharks and crabs, not to mention jellies, we decided to walk up and down the sand bars at the start of our big adventure to see what else we might find in nature.  Of course, AJ decided he has already had enough walking and nature, so Mommy carried him and held KK close.

Love my babies

KK searching for sea shells and playing in the water

The difference between boys and girls: AJ throwing sticks and shells back into the ocean... hehe. 

As we were walking and exploring, I decided to take some pictures of the kids as they played.  The lighting was just right and I wanted to capture the carefree play as I knew as I watched, these moments are the kind you want to replay in your heart long after the day is over.  I didn't want to forget the joy on their faces, the sound of their laughter and the feeling of my heart just full full full.  Thank you Lord for moments like this!

This crane was with us the entire trip - so it was fitting that it came up the beach to us and was fishing as we frolicked on the sand.

Two sets of sweet little toes covered in sand - who doesn't want to remember those little feet...

The boys coming back from exploring up a little further!

Our sweet KK was just sitting in the sand playing with shells when I captured these pictures - a natural beauty (I am not biased at all).

She posed by herself with this one - I just snapped the shot with the sunset behind her.  This is my favorite shot of her during our trip. I love my KK!

Our beach walk wasn't just pictures - nature followed us (or else we ended up on top of it). On our way home we saw sting rays swimming right along the beach between the sand bars!

Here was our view as we returned home.  The kids chattered away about all the sea life we witnessed as our pockets were filled with shells and sand.  They were not keen on walking in the water as the jellies still scared them, and they both got tired and had to be carried several times, but it was the best adventure regardless.  Memories that we won't forget.  After this, we are definitely coming back for another vacation here again.  This.place.is.awesome.